If you need to know anything about my cooking, it’s that I like to curry everything. I especially love to curry things that you wouldn’t expect to see curried. It’s my chance to be creative and make something “new”. Since I’ve never had curried pumpkin seeds, I thought this would be an awesome thing to experiment with.

I’ve been so busy lately that Halloween snuck up on me. Every year, I get really excited about Halloween, I plan my costume way ahead of time, and I make sure to have a pumpkin carving date with my friend Sylvie. On Sunday last week, I realised that it was the week before Halloween and that I hadn’t planned anything Halloween-y. So, my friend came over on the Tuesday for pumpkin carving. She turned hers into an alien.

The store didn’t have any smaller pumpkins, and I wasn’t going to dig a knife through pumpkin flesh two inches thick, so I decided to etch my design. Little problem… I don’t have the tools for it. In the end, I used a flat screwdriver. I had to figure out a way to get creative, right? This is how it turned out:

I was really tired by the end of decorating my pumpkin. This doesn’t look very difficult to do, but without the right tools, it’s exhausting. Anyway, I got two pumpkins’ worth of seeds, so I roasted them and coated them with curry spice.

Curry Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (vegan, paleo)

*If you use one pumpkin, the flavour will be stronger but just as good – or you can cut the recipe by half.

Directions
Preheat oven to 325F.

Rinse the seeds really well. There should be no pumpkin strands left on the seeds. Drain them and dry them off a bit. They don’t need to be completely dry. The oven will take care of that for you. Blend the spices in a little bowl and then add to the pumpkin seeds. I did this directly on the baking sheet and mixed it all with my hands.

Then, lay the seeds out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 20 minutes, give or take a couple of minutes. Watch them near the end to make sure they don’t burn. Remove them when they’re done to your liking.

If, like me, you go through tons of coconut milk, it may be advantageous for you to start making your own. First of all, it’s more economical. I can make it for $1 (or less) using coconut shavings, or I can buy it for $3.29 in Ottawa. Additionally, making your own is healthier. You get to control what goes into your milk; no weird binding agents or preservatives.

I’ve also been trying to be more conscious of reducing my waste. I could easily go through 2 tetra packs of coconut milk per week. That waste accumulates really quickly! I would much rather use and reuse my mason jars.

Make Your Own Coconut Milk (paleo, vegan, sugar free)

What you do
Combine the boiling water and the shredded coconut in the blender. LET IT COOL DOWN. I didn’t wait, and I ended up burning myself. Because of the higher temperature, more pressure is required on the blender lid to stop it from overflowing. Avoid accidents by letting it cool down.

Once cooled down, blend for a few minutes. You won’t be able to get rid of all the coconut pieces so blend it until it’s to your desired thickness. Then, if you’re using a strainer, place your funnel in the jar mouth and the strainer on top of the funnel, and pour the coconut milk. If you’re using the nut milk bag, place it in a bowl and pour the coconut through the bag.

You can add a bit of vanilla and a liquid sweetener for taste, but it’s not necessary, if you want to skip that step.

Refrigerate for up to 5 days. A solid block of fat will form at the top. This can be blended in smoothies or heated to melt.

I had the day off on Wednesday. I spent almost the entire day cooking. I ended up making sweet and sour pork tenderloin, peach meatballs, a trial for something I’ve never made before but intend to give as a gift (update: it was a biscotti recipe), a snack (update: it was coconut date balls), and this tapenade.

You won’t find me eating anchovies willingly. I didn’t even know tapenade was supposed to have anchovies until I started looking it up online recently (I’m a fan of appetizer parties). Thankfully, you can change it up to include different flavours, and it can still be quite tasty! So, I did just that. No anchovies in this tapenade.

This recipe is, of course, for olive lovers. I would like to say that there’s such a big difference between olives you buy in a can, and olives sitting in oil. Not only are the olives in oil much better for your health, but they also taste infinitely better. I like to buy the ones that I can scoop out myself because I can choose how much oil to include. I also find that most grocery stores offer a bigger variety of olives that way.

When I went to see my naturopath last week, she told me that I need to eat more protein with breakfast. Because breakfast is a rare occurrence around here, I wasn’t surprised to hear that. While I do try to make overnight oats for any day that I start work at 8 or earlier, I always seem to think I’ll have time for breakfast with later shifts. But who am I kidding… I did do some research and found this thing called “pudla”.

Forums are loaded with good ideas, though those ideas don’t all work for me. Pudlas, however, seem to work well for me. They’re chickpea flour based vegetable pancakes from Indian origin. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned how much I love Indian food, but I LOVE IT. Oh what? Half my recipes are Indian food? Oh, I guess I must have mentioned it before!

To be honest, I have no idea if my pudla recipe is anything close to the real thing. I found guidelines for making these pancakes and I added the spices with inspiration from onion bahji. If you don’t have fennel seeds, you can skip them, but it brought these savory pancakes to a whole new level.

Directions
Combine the dry ingredients. Mix in the wet ingredients. Add the veggies.

Heat a bit of oil (if using) in a frying pan over medium heat. Pour a quarter of the batter into the pan and spread evenly. When the top looks like it’s not liquid anymore, flip the pudla over and cook for another couple of minutes. Makes 4 pancakes.

Do you want to know something funny? There are lots of foods I never thought of eating before knowing about my food sensitivities. Then, after I discovered I was limited in my food choices, I started expanding my menu. For instance, I never ate cream of broccoli soup back when I could eat dairy.

Truth be told, I never liked “cream of [insert ingredient]” soups when I ate dairy. But now that I’ve discovered what I can do with coconut milk, so many new things seem appealing. The good thing about coconut milk is that it contains the healthy kind of fats.

Broccoli is a cruciferous vegetable, or what you may know as the cabbage family. The awesome thing about cruciferous vegetables is that they have a ton of health benefits. They have great anti-cancer benefits. Additionally, they help support the liver’s detoxification processes.

Broccoli is high in vitamin K, which helps with coagulation. It also contains lots of vitamin C, which is great for the immune system, and is an antioxidant. Additionally, it has all kinds of B vitamins, which provide you with energy, and help support the reproductive system, manage stress, and so many more benefits. And finally, I want to mention that it contains lots of chromium, which helps reduce sugar cravings.

Cream of Broccoli Soup (vegan, slowcooker option)

Directions
Slowcooker: place all the ingredients except for the coconut milk in a 6 qt slow cooker (or slightly smaller). Cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours. With a hand blender, blend the ingredients. Add the coconut milk and continue cooking for an additional half hour.

Stovetop: Bring all the ingredients except for the coconut milk to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer. When the broccoli is really soft, about half an hour, blend the ingredients and add the coconut milk. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.

I always keep organic raspberries in my freezer. They are so much more cost efficient than “fresh” berries which have lost their nutrients by the time they find their way to my belly. I keep them on hand so that I can make smoothies, or throw them in tasty treats, like these raspberry cream popsicles.

I know it’s not quite yet summer up here, but I’m starting to feel antsy. I’m practically making it be summer. Now, I know you’re sitting there and thinking, “Who does she think she is, ‘making it be summer’?” so let me clarify. I’ve stopped wearing my boots and opted for my little flats, I wear my sunglasses whenever I can, and, most importantly, I’ve been making summer treats. It’s all about the state of mind, right? Right.

Making popsicles is practically effortless, provided that you have a functioning freezer. I’ve noticed that my freezer is moody, and I need to check its temperature before I start making popsicles. Last time I tried making popsicles, all I ended up making was really cold pudding. Don’t get me wrong, it was really good, it just wasn’t what I was hoping for.

These raspberry cream popsicles are quite easy. You don’t even need to respect exact proportions to make these. Taste the mix before putting it in your popsicle molds, and you’re good to go.

Raspberry Cream Popsicles

*My raspberries have been crushed by the contents of my overstuffed freezer so I used the minimum amount, but if yours still have their shape, you may need to increase the amount.

Directions
Blend all the ingredients together. Taste and adjust to your liking. Pour into popsicle moulds and freeze for several hours. To remove them easily from the moulds, run them under hot water for a few seconds.

I love that spaghetti squash is healthier than pasta. It’s also a tad more versatile because you can add sauce to it, but you can also choose to fry it. I could even go as far as to say I prefer it over pasta, but that seems like a big statement to make.

The first time or two that you make spaghetti squash, it can seem like a lot of work. But, I guarantee that after a couple of times, it becomes much easier. Spaghetti squash is a great way to get a few more vegetable portions in for the day without realizing.

Garlic Parsley Spaghetti Squash (paleo, vegan)

Start by cutting the squash. Put it down on the counter, take a sharp knife, and anchor it in the middle, at a 90 degree angle (to cut lengthwise). Pull the knife down so that it is parallel with the counter/table/cutting board. Repeat on the other side. If you can’t get the knife down through the skin at the bottom, cut as much as you can, and then break the two halves apart.

Place the halves flat side down on a baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes. To know if it’s cooked, try inserting a knife into the skin. It should go through easily. Overcooking will caramelise the spaghetti squash.

Let it cool down a bit before handling, or use oven mitts. Take a fork and scratch the spaghetti strands out. They go crosswise for the most part. If the strands don’t come apart and you get hard clumps instead, the squash isn’t cooked thoroughly. Place it in the oven another few minutes.

Heat some cooking oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the garlic for a minute or two, until it’s really fragrant. Add the spaghetti and the salt. Toss around constantly to avoid turning the spaghetti into mush. A minute or two before it’s cooked to your liking, add the parsley and continue to toss around.

If you’ve tried kale chips in the past but you didn’t enjoy them because you found them bitter, try salt and vinegar kale chips instead. The acidity of the vinegar contrasts the bitter taste nicely. I like it as a mid afternoon snack. It’s better than a sugary snack that will make you crash before the end of the day and make you want to eat more before dinner.

I’m sure you’ve heard about a bajillion times that kale is good for you. But do you understand why? The term “superfood” gets thrown around a lot, but it actually doesn’t mean a whole lot. Everybody has a different body. This means that each individual has different needs. Instead of calling foods “superfoods”, I prefer to look at their nutrient profile.

Kale is a cruciferous vegetable, or what you may know as the cabbage family. These are vegetables that have anticancer properties and help support the liver. Kale contains lots of vitamin K, which is important for coagulation. It also contains lots of vitamin A and C, two important antioxidants that help support the immune system. Additionally, it has a variety of B vitamins, which help provide energy, and support the reproductive system.

During busy periods, putting some time aside to cook something tasty can be quite difficult. It is during those times that I am thankful that I occasionally think ahead. I prepare freezer slowcooker bags to save myself some time. I simply chop all the ingredients for a given recipe that I freeze in a zipper bag. Then, when I’m too busy to cook a meal, I simply empty the content of the bag into my slowcooker. This is something that can easily be done with my curried cauliflower soup.

This soup is really simple if you have an immersion blender. If not, a potato masher will do. Or a rock, if you really have to. What I like the least about making this soup is the part where I cut the cauliflower and little pieces fall on the ground and get stuck to my feet. That’s why I often stop myself from buying cauliflower. But not for this soup.

You may have heard by now that it’s important to include a variety of vegetable colours in your diet to eat a variety of nutrients. However, for some reason, people tend to forget that white vegetables should also be eaten. Cauliflower is loaded with vitamin C, which helps support the immune system, and is an important antioxidant.

Directions
In the slowcooker: put all the ingredients in a 6-qt slow cooker or smaller. Cook on high for 4 hours (or 8 hours on low). Then, blend the soup using an immersion blender or potato masher.

On the stove: put all the ingredients in a soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the cauliflower is really soft. Then, blend the soup using an immersion blender or potato masher.

I have recently found out that I can’t peacefully digest regular sausage. This quite saddens me, because the Sausage Kitchen in the Byward Market here in Ottawa makes amazing gluten free sausage. I’m thinking the problem might be the high fat content. But hey, no biggie, since I have a healthier alternative anyway.

So, you thought low fat food had to be bland? Think again. I buy extra lean ground chicken sausage and use molasses to stop it from being dry. I like to fry it on the stove top with a bit of oil, but you could make it in a non-stick skillet without oil, or probably in a non-stick pan in the oven.

This recipe is really simple, and yet seems complicated enough to an outsider to be able to make this to impress a carnivore. I find it’s also really nice as leftovers.

Apple Chicken Sausage

Directions
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours, though overnight is preferable.

To form into patties, I suggest using plastic gloves, especially if you have long nails. Because of the molasses, the mixture will be stickier than most ground chicken recipes. Patties of about two inches in diameter seem to be perfect. Alternatively, you can roll them, but keep in mind that it may need to cook longer, which could possibly make them turn out less moist.

Place patties in a lightly oiled skillet. If you don’t want to use oil, make sure your skillet is non-stick. Cook on medium heat for about 7 minutes. Turn the sausage and cook for another 5 minutes. Using a lid makes it cook faster and more uniformly. Makes about 4 servings.